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Updated: May 23, 2026
06:57
Modeling Verbal Behavior Deficits with the Stimulus Control Ratio Equation, SCoRE
Published on: May 14, 2019
Summary
Attitudes and beliefs are shaped by social interactions within verbal communities. These communities influence how we express and maintain our attitudes and beliefs as social behaviors, not private thoughts.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Attitudes and beliefs are traditionally viewed as internal cognitive states.
- Behavioral analysis offers an alternative framework for understanding these phenomena.
- The role of verbal communities in shaping psychological constructs is increasingly recognized.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze attitudes and beliefs through the lens of verbal behavior.
- To explore the role of verbal communities in the formation and maintenance of attitudes and beliefs.
- To propose a framework for studying attitudes and beliefs as social behavior.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of attitudes and beliefs as verbal behavior.
- Examination of shaping by verbal communities.
- Investigation of autoclitic functions in social negotiation.
- Study of consistency between attitudes, beliefs, and behavior.
Main Results:
- Verbal communities are essential for shaping and maintaining attitudes and beliefs.
- Verbal communities mediate the shift from environmental control (tacts) to verbal control (intraverbals).
- Social negotiation via autoclitic functions reinforces generalized reporting and misrepresentation of intraverbals as tacts.
- Consistency in attitudes, beliefs, and behavior is contingent on community reinforcement practices.
Conclusions:
- Attitudes and beliefs can be effectively studied as social behavior.
- This perspective moves beyond private, cognitive processes.
- Understanding verbal community practices is key to understanding attitudes and beliefs.
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